Planning commission approves rezoning for Vanderbilt project

A proposal by Mayor Bill de Blasio to rezone a five-block stretch of east Midtown Manhattan, allowing for construction of one of New York’s tallest buildings, was approved on Monday by the City Planning Commission.

But the biggest obstacle for the so-called Vanderbilt Corridor remains: Passage by the City Council, which is likely to push developer SL Green Realty Corp. to alter its plans for a 1,400-foot-tall commercial skyscraper.

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This rezoning is small and focused, intended to test the waters for a broader rethinking of the three-decade-old rules that govern what can and can’t be build over a wide swath of Midtown. Still, the stakes are obviously high; former mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan for a larger rezoning collapsed under political pressure just before he left office.

And while de Blasio’s pitch has not met fierce resistance from community board members and local elected officials, it has been repeatedly attacked by the relatively unknown owner of Grand Central Terminal, Andrew Penson.

His worry? That the rezoning, which will allow developers to fund public improvements in exchange for permission to construct bigger buildings, would devalue the air rights above the landmarked terminal. For example, SL Green would receive additional floor area for its tower, One Vanderbilt, by making about $210 million in improvements in and around Grand Central.

City officials disagree with Penson, and say the zoning changes would actually make it easier for the owners of landmarked buildings to transfer their development rights. Penson’s fight is likely to bleed into the final stages of the review process as the proposal head to City Hall, but it doesn’t appear as if local Councilman Daniel Garodnick will take up his cause.

“The framework of putting of giving a developer an opportunity to invest in infrastructure in exchange for development rights is one that I support,” Garodnick said Monday. “The question will be whether the private applicant here has done what they need to do to earn the density.”

Specifically at issue, he said, will be whether the $210 million in work SL Green has committed to is enough to warrant the bonus the company will receive. “We just have to throw that onto the scale against a 30 F.A.R. building,” Garodnick said.

The City Planning Commission on Monday voted, 12-0, with one recusal, to approve the plan. Chairman Carl Weisbrod said that the rezoning represents a key commitment from the mayor, who hopes aging office buildings will be replaced by new towers capable of luring high-tech tenants. He said One Vanderbilt, which would rise 64-stories and become a new skyline rival to the Empire State Building, would be the first example of that.

“The proposed building itself would be a significant addition to the East Midtown business district and to our skyline,” Weisbrod said, according to his prepared remarks. “It would provide the first new office space in at least a decade in the area around Grand Central Terminal, helping further the City’s goal of keeping East Midtown one of the best business addresses in the world. It would also be one of, if not the, most sustainable office buildings in the city.”

The commission incorporated several changes to the original proposal, including one by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer that’s meant to improve access to retail and amenities on the ground floor of One Vanderbilt. The changes also call for providing clarity on who would be responsible for maintaining the public improvements made by SL Green and other developers that would take advantage of the changes. SL Green’s improvements include creating a pedestrian plaza on Vanderbilt.

In a statement, SL Green chief executive Marc Holliday said he and others at the real estate investment trust were “extremely pleased” by the vote.

“This iconic new skyscraper will not only create the modern office space that global corporate tenants demand but it will also generate thousands of good paying middle class jobs and will offer a faster, more efficient commute for residents of every borough, straphangers from across the region, and visitors from around the world,” Holliday said. “As we work collectively to create a 21st century vision for the greater East Midtown business district, we believe One Vanderbilt will serve as an exceptional model for future development.”